OVERVIEW
Whether writing a paper for school or a document for work, high-stakes writing requires careful thought and execution. The steps involved in this form of writing constitute a writing process. Even though everyone ultimately has his/her/their own process for getting ideas down on paper and turning those ideas into a finished product, there are identifiable steps involved in the process of writing that can be defined, developed, and discussed. These steps include:
- Getting Started (from deciphering a writing task assignment to getting your initial thoughts on a topic on paper)
- Drafting (from organizing your ideas, to strategies for refining drafts to dealing with writer’s block)
- Organization and Structure
- Gathering and Using Feedback (from responding to comments to using comments constructively)
- Revising, Editing, Proofreading
Common Types of Writing Assignments (Southwestern University)
Your best resource for questions about assignments is your professor. However, here are a few links that discuss some common types of assignments. Please remember that these are just guides and that each assignment is different.
If I Were a Carpenter: The Tools of the Writer (Roy Peter Clark, Senior Scholar at The Poynter Institute and director of the National Writers’ Workshop)
Includes 20 of the best writing tips that Clark has learned from reporters, editors, authors, teachers, and coaches.
Stages of the Writing Process (MIT Writing and Communication Center)
Writing is a process that involves at least four distinct steps: prewriting, drafting, revising, and editing. It is known as a recursive process. While you are revising, you might have to return to the prewriting step to develop and expand your ideas.
Starting The Writing Process (Purdue OWL)
The highly regarded OWL (Online Writing Lab) at Purdue University offers a large collection of online guides on writing that are updated regularly and cover a myriad of topics. This is a link to their page on the writing process.
Strategies for Essay Writing (Harvard College Writing Center)
The links below provide concise advice on some fundamental elements of academic writing.
- How to Read an Assignment
- How to Do a Close Reading
- Essay Structure
- Developing a Thesis
- Outlining
- Summary
- Topic Sentences and Signposting
- Transitioning
- How to Write a Comparative Analysis
- Conclusions
Tips and Tools Handouts (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center)
A comprehensive collection of handouts that deal with various aspects of the writing process including: writing the paper; citation, style, and sentence level concerns; specific writing assignments or contexts; and writing for specific fields.
GETTING STARTED
Before you begin writing, there are a few steps you can take to help you prepare yourself for the task at hand. The first step in any writing task is to understand what you need to write. In a classroom setting, this means understanding the assignment. In a professional setting, this means studying the publication: its audience, writer’s guidelines, and editorial reviewers. And in a business setting, it means identifying and understanding the needs of your customers.
Once you have an idea of what you need to write and why, you can begin brainstorming and generating ideas on what you want to write. Below are resources on prewriting, also known as invention, in the writing process.
Brainstorming Strategies for Student Writing (Cardinal Stritch University)
Posted on YouTube: Oct. 20 2013 | length: 10:42
This tutorial provides “5 Brainstorming Methods for Writing Better College Papers.”
Developing an Outline (Purdue OWL)
This guide demonstrates how to develop an outline for a first draft.
Getting Started (Pace University, The Writing Center) (Podcast)
Posted on iTunes U: May 6 2009 | length: 1:45 / Access: iTunes U
“Not sure how to begin your paper? Stuck on a topic? Not sure where to begin? Listen to this short podcast about how to get yourself started quickly and easily!” “Getting Started” is item 19 on the list of resources.
How Do I Make Sure I Understand an Assignment? (University of Michigan)
“While some writing assignments are straightforward, others may need careful deciphering to make sure you are following the guidelines. Looking carefully at the instructions provided for any writing assignment to be certain that you understand the guidelines not only prevents missteps but can also help you develop strategies for conquering the task ahead.”
Introduction to Prewriting (Purdue OWL)
This guide introduces the writer to strategies and techniques for developing an idea for a writing assignment through a series of questions.
Prewriting Questions (Purdue OWL)
“This section explains the prewriting (invention) stage of the composing process. It includes processes, strategies, and questions to help you begin to write..”
Starting the Writing Process (Purdue OWL)
This guide addresses how to begin thinking about a writing project.
The Perils of Writer’s Block: A Poem (Pace University, The Writing Center) (Podcast)
Posted on iTunes U: April 10 2009 | length: :40 / Access: iTunes U
“We all hate writer’s block and this fun poem will give you an opportunity to rant and rave with our very own consultants!” “The Perils of Writer’s Block” is item 20 on the list of resources.
Understanding an Assignment (MIT Writing and Communication Center)
When you get a writing task, the first step is to make sure you understand what you are being asked to do. This guide explains how to understand a writing assignment.
Understanding Assignments (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center)
“The first step in any successful college writing venture is reading the assignment. While this sounds like a simple task, it can be a tough one. This handout will help you unravel your assignment and begin to craft an effective response. Much of the following advice will involve translating typical assignment terms and practices into meaningful clues to the type of writing your instructor expects.”
Understanding Writing Assignments(Purdue OWL)
“This resource describes some steps you can take to better understand the requirements of your writing assignments. This resource works for either in-class, teacher-led discussion or for personal use.”
Write a Great Essay Using The Topoi (Associate Professor of Writing Mark Marino, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences)
Posted on YouTube: Oct. 27, 2008 | length: 10:22
This video demonstrates how to brainstorm a topic using the prewriting strategy called “Topoi.”
Writer’s Block (Purdue OWL)
This guide discusses the causes and provides ideas and suggestions for dealing with writer’s block.
Writing Anxiety (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center)
“This handout discusses the situational nature of writer’s block and other writing anxiety and suggests things you can try to feel more confident and optimistic about yourself as a writer.”
CLAIM (THESIS)
Prior to writing and during the drafting stage, you should be thinking about the central claim – also known as the thesis or argument – of your paper. Developing a single statement that clearly articulates the main argument of your paper is a key component to writing a strong paper. As you delve further into research and exploration, your argument may change slightly or drastically; thus, you should continually reread and revise your central claim so that it provides a true representation of your paper. Many people like to think of a central claim as a roadmap of the paper, as it offers your readers a guide for where the paper is headed. Usually a central claim is written at the end of an introduction, though it may be present anywhere in your paper.
Argument (UNC Chapel Hill, The Writing Center)
“This handout will define what an argument is and explain why you need one in most of your academic essays.”
Developing a Thesis (Harvard College Writing Center)
“A good thesis has two parts. It should tell what you plan to argue, and it should “telegraph” how you plan to argue—that is, what particular support for your claim is going where in your essay.” This resource provides steps for writing a thesis statement along with caveats and examples.
Developing a Thesis Statement (Univ. of Wisconsin – Madison, The Writing Center)
Offers a step-by-step approach to developing a thesis statement, from defining a topic to drafting a statement and finalizing it.
How to Write a Thesis Statement (Indiana University Writing Tutorial Services)
Covers what a thesis statement is, why your paper needs one, and how to write/assess a thesis statement based on the following:
- How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is Assigned
- How to Generate a Thesis Statement if the Topic is not Assigned
- How to Tell a Strong Thesis Statement from a Weak One
The Thesis Statement: A Roadmap for Your Essay (Modesto Junior College)
A PowerPoint presentation (approximately 20 slides) that uses many examples to help you understand what a thesis statement looks like and where you might add it to your paper.
DRAFTING
Now you’re ready to put your ideas together and produce a first draft. This early and rough draft will lead you to your second, third, and fourth drafts as you continue to conduct more research and refine your ideas.
Pre-writing Activities and Drafting Your Essay (Purdue OWL)
“This handout covers major topics relating to writing about fiction. This covers prewriting, close reading, thesis development, drafting and common pitfalls to avoid.”
Composing Processes: Drafting, Designing and Revising (Writing@CSU)
“These guides provide advice on composing processes such as developing a thesis statement, creating a first draft, designing documents, revising, editing, proofreading, and carrying out peer review. Use these guides to help yourself write an effective document.”
The Structure of an Essay Draft (Univ. of Arizona)
Tips for drafting your introduction, body, and conclusion. (Handout based on Hacker’s A Writer’s Reference)
INTRODUCTIONS AND CONCLUSIONS
Sometimes writers have difficulties beginning and ending their papers. However, many effective introductions share similar elements – a hook, context, your argument, etc. – depending on the type of paper being composed. Likewise, many introductions and conclusions attempt to convey the “so what” factor, or why your reader should care about the subject. If you get stuck when writing the introduction, you might try moving onto your body paragraphs and then writing the introduction after the rest of your draft is complete. The websites listed below also provide a number of useful strategies and tips.
Conclusions (UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center)
“This handout will explain the functions of conclusions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you evaluate conclusions you’ve drafted, and suggest approaches to avoid.”
Conclusion Strategies (MIT Writing and Communication Center; Click here for a full list of their online resources for writers)
Examples of strategies to use in writing an introduction for a college essay.
Ending the Essay: Conclusions (Harvard College Writing Center)
Offers strategies on how to provide readers with closure at the end of your essay or leave them thinking critically about the larger implications. It also provides some suggestions on ways not to end an essay.
Introductions (UNC Chapel Hill Writing Center)
“This handout will explain the functions of introductions, offer strategies for writing effective ones, help you check your drafted introductions and provide you with examples of introductions to be avoided.”
Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper (Purdue OWL)
This guide addresses how to develop the key parts of a paper: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. There is a similar guide for writing exploratory papers.
Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for Exploratory Papers (Purdue OWL)
This guide addresses how to develop the key parts of a paper: the introduction, the body and the conclusion. There is a similar guide for writing argument papers.
Introduction Strategies (MIT Online Writing and Communication Center; Click here for a full list of their Writing and Communication Center Resources)
Examples of strategies to use in writing an introduction for a college essay.
Writing Introductions (Franklin and Marshall College Writing Center)
A handout that breaks the introductory paragraph into manageable units – the opening sentence, middle sentences, and thesis statement. It also includes a sample effective introductory paragraph and ineffective introductory paragraph.
Writing Strong Conclusions (Indiana Univ. of Pennsylvania, Kathleen Jones White Writing Center)
Presents “five basic methods for concluding your paper in a way that will leave your reader intrigued and impressed”: anecdote, basic summary, startling summary, famous ideas, and hinting at related issues.
ORGANIZATION AND STRUCTURE
The organization of your paper should always be intentional. Whether you choose to structure your ideas chronologically, thematically, or in some other way, you should be thinking about the most effective way to present your argument to readers. You should also be able to clearly see how ideas are interwoven. Within each individual paragraph and between multiple paragraphs, you should seamlessly transition between concepts so your readers never lose track of your thought process.
Essay Structure (Harvard College Writing Center)
This source reviews the logic behind essay writing explaining how “successfully structuring an essay means attending to a reader’s logic.”
On Paragraphs (Purdue OWL)
“Learning to write good paragraphs will help you as a writer stay on track during your drafting and revision stages.”
Organizing an Exploratory Essay (Purdue OWL)
“This resource will help you with exploratory/inquiry essay assignments.”
Organizing Your Analysis (Purdue OWL)
“This resource covers how to write a rhetorical analysis essay of primarily visual texts with a focus on demonstrating the author’s understanding of the rhetorical situation and design principles.”
Organizing Your Argument (Purdue OWL)
Explains the Toulmin Method of logic/argumentation and offers an example.
Transitions (The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill)
“This handout will introduce you to some useful transitional expressions and help you employ them effectively.”
Strategies for Organizing as You Write (Univ. of Nevada, Las Vegas; Click here for a full list of their handouts) (PDF)
Describes different ways to organize your writing including creating headings, color coding, and outlining.
GATHERING AND USING FEEDBACK
Because writing is meant to be read, one of the best ways to improve your writing is to have others read your work. In academic circles, this is called peer review. In business, it is just called review. Your instructor might also give you feedback with the opportunity to revise. Gathering this feedback and using it constructively is a vital step in producing a quality piece of writing.
Challenges of Good Writing Part 3: Asking for Feedback (Arizona State University at iTunes U–ASU Challenges of Good Writing – Asking for Feedback)
Posted on iTunes U: March 11, 2009 | length: 13:45
Dr. Jeanne Simpson, Director of the ASU Writing Centers, interviews professors from a variety of disciplines regarding exemplary writing in their fields These professors share their thoughts, challenges, and frustrations about the writing process. “Challenges of Good Writing” is item 8 on the list of resources in iTunes.
Getting Feedback (UNC Chapel Hill, Writing Center)
“Sometimes you’d like feedback from someone else about your writing, but you may not be sure how to get it. This handout describes when, where, how and from whom you might receive effective responses as you develop as a writer.”
Peer Reviewing (University of Maryland Global Campus)
From “The Writing Process” in the Online Guide to Writing and Research
This page presents a series of checklists to direct the person reviewing your writing to particular areas and provide more focused feedback.
REVISING, EDITING AND PROOFREADING
When you submit a paper to a teacher for a grade, a journal for possible publication, or a customer or colleague in a business setting, you want your writing to be the best it can be in presenting your ideas. If your paper is riddled with pesky typos, misspelled words, or grammatical and punctuation errors, the reader will only focus on the errors. You need to edit and proofread your work closely so your reader focuses on the quality of your ideas.
Editing and Proofreading (UNC Chapel Hill, Writing Center)
A handout on the differences between editing and proofreading with tips and strategies for revising and editing your own writing.
Proofreading Your Paper (Purdue OWL)
Strategies for reviewing your finished writing to catch grammar and punctuation errors.
Questions to Ask Yourself as you Revise Your Essay (Writing@CSU)
Questions to guide the essay revision process.
Reverse Outlining: An Exercise for Taking Notes and Revising Your Work (Purdue OWL)
This guide provides a specific strategy of revising your paper by making an outline of a paper after it has been written to see what works and what is missing.
Revisions (Pace University, Writing Center) (Podcast)
Posted on iTunes U: April 10 2009 | length: 2:04
“This short podcast will show you effective ways to look at your finished paper and improve it on your own. Revision is item 17 on the list of resources in iTunes.”
Strategies for Revision (Duke University; posted by USF Writing Commons)
Posted on YouTube: June 19 2014 length: 8:22
This video clip provides specific strategies and helpful guidance on the best ways to revise an essay.
MULTIMODAL WRITING
Multimodal writing is the practice of using different modalities (audio, visual, spatial, and more) to help create meaning. Multimodality is common in academic and workplace writing. Use the resource below to help guide you on how to incorporate multimodality in your writing.
Digital Writing 101 (Amy Goodloe)
A blog created by former University of Colorado-Boulder professor comprised of a variety of how-to guides for digital projects, including video, digital images, and digital storytelling, and more. It also contains sample student projects that use various media.
WRITING TIMED ESSAYS
You may not always have time to go through the steps writing a well-developed essay usually requires. This section provides background information and strategies you can use for completing the GRE Analytical Writing section or other timed essay tests.
For the GRE:
Overview of the GRE Analytical Writing Measure (ETS)
An introduction to the Analytical Writing portion of the GRE that includes tips on how to prepare, information on scoring, and sample tasks. The GRE Analytical Writing prompts will ask you to analyze an issue and analyze an argument. In order to prepare for the test, you may want to review the topic pool for issue tasks and topic pool for argument tasks that have been published by the GRE.
For any timed essay:
Timed Essay/Essay Exam (Duke University, Writing Studio)
“At some point during your college career, you will likely encounter a timed essay. Known collectively as timed essays, essay exams, or in-class essays, these essays require you to demonstrate disciplinary knowledge by producing a writing sample within a limited time period. Timed essays are popular because they allow teachers to grade students holistically in a very brief amount of time. This handout offers a few ways to prepare for timed essays and provides advice for how to answer a timed essay question effectively.”
Writing Essays for Exams (Purdue OWL)
“While most OWL resources recommend a longer writing process (start early, revise often, conduct thorough research, etc.), sometimes you just have to write quickly in test situations. However, these exam essays can be no less important pieces of writing than research papers because they can influence final grades for courses, and/or they can mean the difference between getting into an academic program (GED, SAT, GRE). To that end, this resource will help you prepare and write essays for exams.”